# Kruger National Park — a hundred years old, with its founder in dispute Canonical: https://sockmonkey.com/places/kruger-national-park (this is a plain-text copy of that page) Source: https://sockmonkey.com/places/kruger-national-park Publisher: SockMonkey.com (https://sockmonkey.com) Part of: The Field Guide - https://sockmonkey.com/places/ Cite as: SockMonkey.com - sockmonkey.com Last reviewed: 25 October 2026 - **Where:** Limpopo and Mpumalanga, north-eastern South Africa - **Coordinates:** 24.0000° S, 31.5000° E - **Size:** Nearly 2 million hectares;, about 360 km north to south - **Created:** Sabi reserve 1898; national park, 1926 (birthday 31 May) - **Named for:** Paul Kruger, Transvaal president, (his role is disputed) - **Managed by:** South African National Parks, (SANParks) - **The rule:** Stay in your vehicle, except where allowed - **Best visited:** Winter, roughly April to September, for game viewing ## The short answer South Africa’s first national park turned 100 in 2026. Kruger runs about 360 kilometres from north to south along the border with Mozambique, in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, and began as the Sabi Game Reserve, proclaimed in 1898 between the Sabie and Crocodile rivers. Since 2002 it has been part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which runs on into Mozambique and Zimbabwe. ## Why it's worth knowing The big five, and then some. Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino all live in Kruger, and the park has more species of large mammal than any other game reserve in Africa: 147 of them. Packs of the endangered African wild dog roam the park too. The seasons rearrange everything: most birds breed in the summer rains, but the big birds of prey breed in the dry winter, when their prey is easiest to see. Named for one of three. The park’s own history names three founders: President Paul Kruger, who proclaimed the Sabi reserve in 1898; Piet Grobler, the minister who took the National Parks Bill through parliament in 1926, and Kruger’s great-grandnephew; and James Stevenson-Hamilton, the reserve’s first warden. The name, proposed by a judge, J. A. J. de Villiers, went to Kruger, and historians have argued in print over how much he deserved it. Even the birthday is a choice: no exact date for 1898 could be found, so the park celebrates 31 May, the day it gives for the passing of the Act in 1926. The centenary was launched at Skukuza on 30 May 2026, with an address by President Cyril Ramaphosa. ## The field notes ### A park on a timetable For most of its visitors, Kruger is a place to drive, from Skukuza, its headquarters and largest camp, or any of the others. Latecomers are refused entry at the gates; late arrivals at the rest camps are warned and, if they do it again, fined. Visitors stay in their vehicles except in designated areas, keep every part of themselves inside the car, and keep to 50 km/h on tarred roads and 40 km/h on gravel. The fence around the whole park is younger than the rule. Fencing began along the Crocodile River in 1959 and reached the western and northern boundaries in 1960, then the Mozambique border. In 2002 the fences on the Mozambique side came down, to let the park run on across the border. ### Skukuza James Stevenson-Hamilton, an Irish-born British army officer, became warden of the Sabi reserve in 1902 and retired in 1946, after 44 years. The Tsonga people who lived on the reserve called him “Skukuza”, a name translated both as he who sweeps clean and as the man who turned everything upside down: he banned hunting and moved their homesteads off the reserve. The camp at Sabi Bridge, now the park’s headquarters, was renamed Skukuza in his honour. ### Whose land the north is The park’s northernmost wedge, the Pafuri triangle between the Limpopo and Luvuvhu rivers, was the home of the Makuleke people. In 1969 the apartheid government removed them, about 1,500 people, so that the land could be joined to the park. In 1998 the Makuleke were one of the first communities in democratic South Africa to win back land, and the first to recover land inside a formally protected park. They chose not to resettle it. The Makuleke region is a contractual park: SANParks manages the conservation, a joint management board runs the region, and the community, through its communal property association, decides what business happens there. The 50-year agreement is reviewed after 20 years, and income from the lodges built on the land has helped electrify three villages and build a school. **A relic from Kruger National Park** The Paul Kruger Gate. It stands above the Sabie River, and it carries the name of the president the whole park is named after. ## Getting there How to get there. Daily flights run from Johannesburg to Skukuza Airport inside the park, to Phalaborwa and Hoedspruit near its western edge, and to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport between Nelspruit and White River, with flights to Skukuza from Cape Town as well. Many visitors drive from Johannesburg. Holidays. In busy holiday periods SANParks has applied daily quotas at the gates. When to go. Winter, roughly April to September, is traditionally the best time for game viewing: the bush thins and animals gather at rivers and waterholes. Summer, October to April, is hot, and is the rainy season. Health. Kruger is in a malaria area; SANParks says the risk is highest from November to April. The CDC publishes malaria guidance for travellers to South Africa, and a doctor can say what applies to a particular trip. Safety. The United States has South Africa at Level 2, exercise increased caution, because of crime, terrorism, civil unrest and kidnapping. The advisory names no area warning for the park; it advises against driving outside metropolitan areas at night and against displaying signs of wealth. ## Common questions #### What animals live in Kruger National Park? All of the big five, and far more. Kruger National Park in South Africa has more species of large mammal than any other African game reserve, 147 of them, as well as packs of the endangered African wild dog. #### Why is it called Kruger National Park? After Paul Kruger, one of three founders. Kruger, president of the South African Republic, proclaimed the park’s forerunner, the Sabi Game Reserve, in 1898; the park also names the minister Piet Grobler and the warden James Stevenson-Hamilton as founders, and historians have argued over how much Kruger deserved the name. #### How old is Kruger National Park? It turned 100 in 2026. Kruger National Park celebrates 31 May 1926, the day South African National Parks gives for the passing of the National Parks Act, because no exact date for the 1898 Sabi Game Reserve could be found. #### How big is Kruger National Park? Nearly 2 million hectares. Kruger National Park runs about 360 kilometres from north to south, and about 65 kilometres wide on average, along South Africa’s border with Mozambique. #### Can you get out of your car in Kruger National Park? Only in designated areas. South African National Parks requires visitors in Kruger National Park to stay in their vehicles except at designated places such as camps and picnic sites. #### What time do the Kruger gates close? It changes with the month. Kruger National Park’s gate times follow the daylight, and South African National Parks publishes them for each gate. #### Who are the Makuleke? The people whose land the park’s far north is. The Makuleke lived in the Pafuri triangle at the northern tip of Kruger National Park until South Africa’s apartheid government removed them in 1969. In 1998 the land was returned to them, the first successful land claim inside a formally protected area, and they chose to keep it as a contractual park, earning income from tourism lodges. #### Is Kruger National Park a malaria area? Yes. South African National Parks says the risk in Kruger National Park is highest from November to April, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list the park among South Africa’s malaria areas. What to pack: the Road trips kit ## Related places Great Zimbabweabout 420 km away · same region The Bazaruto Archipelagoabout 480 km away · both tagged wildlife The Makgadikgadi Pansabout 720 km away · both tagged wildlife Victoria Fallsboth tagged wildlife · same region Chobe National Parkboth tagged wildlife · same region ## Sources and notes Written and checked by SockMonkey.com · last reviewed 25 October 2026 - Background: Wikipedia - Travel advisory: the US State Department